Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop! This month there are 12 of us highlighting the Masking Technique as shown on page 15 in the 2011 Autumn/Winter Idea Book! Masking is when you use a piece of scrap paper to cover an image (or part of an image) so you can stamp around the original image. Click here to watch a video that explains and shows masking in full detail.

This blog hop is a circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous artwork incorporating this technique. If you are coming from Bethany’s Blog, you are on the right track!

I used the Cricut to cut an image for my masking. I used a brayer to apply ink over the mask to create my background. Then, I misted with a spray pen filled with water, Baby Pink reinker, and Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint to add to my final background. The accent flowers are scraps from the mask I used and they are inked with Sunkiss Yellow, Blush, and Lagoon.

Thanks for stopping by! Please continue on to Judy’s Blog where you will find some additional artwork highlighting this technique! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my variation and happy hopping!

Welcome to the October 2011 Close to My Heart Spotlight Blog Hop! This month we are using reinkers. If you are thinking to yourself “what else are reinkers for besides actually re-inking your stamp pads” then this is the hop for you! As you hop through you will find a variety of ideas that I hope you will try. If you are like me it will be a good challenge!

This blog hop is a circle so if you are just starting, continue until you make your way back here. If you are coming from Adeline’s Blog, you are on the right track!

This closeup really shows all the glittery shine! Notice the Pearl Paint on the flowers, background paper, and title paper as well as the Prisma Glitter on the butterfly. Scroll down for full details.

I first used reinkers to create my background paper. I put the reinker on a paper plate and then dipped a crumpled up napkin into it and dabbed color onto my paper. Next, I mixed Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint and water in a spray pen and sprayed on the background to add a bit of glitz.

While this was drying, I used the Heavenly Blue reinker to dye some White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon and Amethyst reinker to dye butterflies from the Just Blooms Paper Shapes Flutter Shapes. I also sprinkled the wet butterflies with some Prisma Glitter. The new tweezers worked great for dipping. This is the first time I have played with reinkers and one thing I have learned is that the color is darker than you would think when you use straight reinker for dying. Next time I will mix with water to get a lighter color. Another thing I learned…make sure things are completely dry before adding them to your layout. I didn’t realize my ribbon was still wet and over time the dye soaked into the surrounding paper. Luckily it’s not very noticeable because of the background I chose.

I used reinker to color my flowers. I used a waterbrush dipped in reinker to color the petals from the outside inward, then I sprayed them with the same paint/water mixture that I used for my background paper.